Over There

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1917 song by George M. Cohan

title: "Over There" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1917-songs", "american-patriotic-songs", "songs-about-the-military", "songs-of-world-war-i", "billy-murray-(singer)-songs", "songs-written-by-george-m.-cohan", "nora-bayes-songs", "grammy-hall-of-fame-award-recipients", "songs-used-as-jingles", "united-states-national-recording-registry-recordings", "american-military-marches"] description: "1917 song by George M. Cohan" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_There" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1917 song by George M. Cohan ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

FieldValue
nameOver There
imageOverThereBayesVtEdu.jpg
caption1917 sheet music cover with Nora Bayes
writtenApril 7, 1917
publishedJune 1917
releasedJuly 13, 1917
genre
writerGeorge M. Cohan
misc{{Audio sample
typemarch
fileOver There (1917).mp3
description"Over There" sung in 1917 by Billy Murray
::

::callout[type=note] the song ::

| name = Over There | image = OverThereBayesVtEdu.jpg | caption = 1917 sheet music cover with Nora Bayes | artist = | written = April 7, 1917 | published = June 1917 | released = July 13, 1917 | genre = | writer = George M. Cohan | misc = {{Audio sample | type = march | file = Over There (1917).mp3 | description = "Over There" sung in 1917 by Billy Murray

"Over There" is a 1917 war song written by George M. Cohan that was popular with the United States military and the American public during World War I and World War II. Written shortly after the American entry into World War I, "Over There" is a patriotic propaganda song meant to galvanize American men to enlist in the American Expeditionary Forces and fight the Central Powers. The song is best remembered for a line in its chorus: "The Yanks are coming."

History

According to the Library of Congress, Cohan wrote "Over There" during his commute to work on April 7, 1917, a day after the U.S. officially abandoned its policy of non-interventionism and joined the Allied Powers. Its opening verse is derived from "Johnny, Get Your Gun", an 1886 song written by Monroe Rosenfeld, while its rhythm was based on a three-note bugle call.

Cohan personally chose Nora Bayes to premiere "Over There" in June 1917, but the Peerless Quartet recorded it first on June 6 with Columbia Records. Bayes's rendition was released on July 13. Though early tests with soldiers saw indifferent reception, the song was popular among the civilian public. Other versions recorded by Billy Murray, the American Quartet, and Arthur Fields were also made. President Woodrow Wilson described it as "a genuine inspiration to all American manhood". By the end of 1918, over 2 million copies of sheet music were sold.

Though written and intended for World War I, the song has been revived on various occasions during and after World War II. It was not heavily used during the Vietnam War, but it regained some popularity in the 21st century after the September 11 attacks and throughout the war on terror.

Lyrics

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/17-cohan-overthere.jpg" caption="USS ''Michigan''"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Over_There_1.jpg" caption="Cover drawing of soldiers from sketch by Henry Hutt"] ::

As sung by early 20th-century recording artist Billy Murray:

Johnny, get your gun, get your gun, get your gun. Take it on the run, on the run, on the run. Hear them calling you and me, Every Son of Liberty. Hurry right away, no delay, go today. Make your daddy glad to have had such a lad. Tell your sweetheart not to pine, To be proud her boy's in line.

Verse 2

Johnny, get your gun, get your gun, get your gun. Johnny, show the Hun you're a son of a gun. Hoist the flag and let her fly; Yankee Doodle, do or die. Pack your little kit, show your grit, do your bit. Yankee to the ranks from the towns and the tanks. Make your mother proud of you And the old red, white, and blue.

Chorus

Over there, over there, Send the word, send the word over there That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming, The drums rum-tumming everywhere. So prepare, say a prayer, Send the word, send the word to beware – We'll be over, we're coming over, And we won't come back till it's over, over there.}}

In popular culture

Notes

References

References

  1. (20 December 2018). "George M. Cohan, 'The Man Who Created Broadway,' Was An Anthem Machine". NPR.
  2. Whitfield, Sarah K.. (2021). "'Over There' – Nora Bayes (1917)".
  3. "Over There".
  4. (2017-06-01). "'Over There' At 100". [[NPR]].
  5. "Over there".
  6. Collins, Ace. (2003). "Songs Sung, Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America's Best-Loved Patriotic Songs". HarperResource.
  7. (2000). "Reading Lyrics: More than a Thousand of the Finest Lyrics from 1900 to 1975". [[Pantheon Books]].
  8. Ramsay, Fiona. (18 August 2009). "GoCompare creates opera singer to take on Comparethemarket's meerkat". campaign.co.uk.
  9. Price, Karen. (26 July 2015). "Go Compare: The most annoying man on telly is back". WalesOnline.
  10. Grütz, Moritz. (26 July 2015). "Passend zum EP-Titel startet der Quasi-Titeltrack "The Yankee Division March" mit dem in beiden Weltkriegen populären Song "Over There" (George M. Cohan), der vom Einmarsch der "Yanks" kündet". Metal 1.
  11. (7 September 2021). "Welcome to Hell [Let Loose]".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1917-songsamerican-patriotic-songssongs-about-the-militarysongs-of-world-war-ibilly-murray-(singer)-songssongs-written-by-george-m.-cohannora-bayes-songsgrammy-hall-of-fame-award-recipientssongs-used-as-jinglesunited-states-national-recording-registry-recordingsamerican-military-marches